SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence and Clinical Features of COVID-19 in a German Liver Transplant Recipient Cohort: A Prospective Serosurvey Study

  1. Conrad Rauber
  2. Shilpa Tiwari-Heckler
  3. Jan Pfeiffenberger
  4. Arianeb Mehrabi
  5. Frederike Lund
  6. Philip Gath
  7. Markus Mieth
  8. Uta Merle
  9. Christian Rupp

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Abstract

No abstract available

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  1. Version published to 10.1016/j.transproceed.2020.11.009
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.09.30.20204537: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: All study participants provided written and informed consent before enrolment.
    IRB: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg (approval number S-457/2020).
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    The data sheet (April 29, 2020) reports cross-reactivities with anti-SARS-CoV-1-IgG-antibodies, but not with MERS-CoV-, HCoV-229E-, HCoV-NL63-, HCoV-HKU1-or HCoV-OC43-IgG antibodies.
    HCoV-NL63- , HCoV-HKU1-or HCoV-OC43-IgG
    suggested: None
    HCoV-HKU1-or
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    , SPSS (Version 22) as appropriate.
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    The study poses several important limitations. Firstly, overall recorded numbers of seroconversion in the LT recipient cohort remained low and while the specificity of the antibody test is given at 99,6% by the manufacturer, we cannot rule out false positives. However, all positive tests were in the high titer range. Secondly, the study was insufficiently sized to assess individual risk factors such as immunosuppression, and it remains an important research question whether immunosuppression exerts protective effects against severe COVID-19 in LT patients. Compared to other studies that have highlighted an increased morbidity and mortality in LT recipients with COVID-19, our study was conducted prospectively in a healthcare setting that was at no point overwhelmed during the first wave of the pandemic. Risk for severe COVID-19 in LT recipients seems comparable to the general population and COVID-19 morbidity was low in a large LT recipient cohort. However, only 3.7 % had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 leaving potentially 96.3 % of the cohort susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We documented a fast decline of anti-SARS-CoV-2-antibodies in LT recipients, questioning the durability of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity and emphasizing the importance of continued containment efforts to protect patient groups at risk. Disclosure: The authors of this manuscript have nothing to disclose as described by the American Journal of Transplantation.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.09.30.20204537v1 on medRxiv